NORTHERN BRAZIL—HOMEWARD
The large majority of tourists will embark at Rio on one of the fine
large steamers of the Lamport and Holt Line for New York. Return may
also be made by way of England on a Royal Mail boat. A few may
desire a more extended acquaintance with Brazil. Some facts are
therefore presented in regard to other States of this immense
Republic and the facilities for visiting them.
=Minas Geraes.= One inclined to journey into the interior, to the
rich gold and diamond region in the State of _Minas Geraes_, may go
by the Central Railway 400 miles north to the capital of Minas,
_Bello Horizonte_, a made-to-order city, not twenty years of age,
but with a population of 30,000, already a fine town for its size.
While this State has no seaboard, no rubber, and no city of 50,000
inhabitants, it has a larger population than any other State of
Brazil and than most of the countries of South America. This is due
to its good climate and excellent waters, as well as to its rich
resources. The author Diaz says: “In this State what doesn’t hide
gold contains iron; what does not contain coal spreads diamonds.”
Here for a century 80,000 men toiled to supply gold to the kings of
Portugal. Discovered in 1699, the output of the _gold mines_ at the
middle of the eighteenth century was at its height. Five thousand
pounds weight is said to have been panned in one year in the area of
one square mile; in another place 100 pounds in one night; 360,000
pounds weight were registered in Rio in 1792. The entire output has
been about one billion dollars. In the nineteenth century less was
produced on account of a heavy tax, new methods, and uncertainty as
to property rights and mining laws. At present there is a revival
and a good outlook. The oldest producing gold mine in the world is
said to be the Morro Velho, between Ouro Preto and Bello Horizonte,
yielding one ounce to the ton and 80,000 ounces a year.
The _diamond mines_ of Jequitinhonha Valley, famous for two
centuries, were discovered in 1729. The Regent diamond, weighing
nearly an ounce, found by three convicts in 1791, secured their
pardon. The Estrella do Sul, now belonging to the Rajah of Baroda,
picked up by a slave who gave it for his freedom, was the highest
ransom ever paid for liberty. Weighing uncut 250 carats, about half
that when cut, it is worth $15,000,000. The center of the industry
is the town _Diamantina_ (population 10,000), 600 miles from Rio.
Black diamonds are found, also amethysts, tourmaline, topaz,
aquamarines, garnets, chrysolites, etc., in many places.
_Ouro Preto_, the center of the manganese industry, yields annually
250,000 tons of 55 per cent ore. Iron, found in every part of Minas,
for lack of fuel, is not exploited. Platinum has been found and
there is a great variety of granite and marble, agates, onyx, and
rock crystal, mica, graphite, cinnabar, and asbestos. Ouro Preto,
the former capital, has a mining school, organized in 1903, said to
be one of the best in the world, with instruction free; the museum
contains a rare collection. The State is thought to have a future
rivaling that of Australia and Kimberley.
The old capital, of which Diaz says: “In six squares everything is
in the horizontal plan, but the 52 streets and lanes go through
tortuous and accidented places as if they were acrobats,” was at
length deemed unsuitable; the State was investigated for a new one;
the site of a hamlet in a beautiful valley was chosen, and a branch
line was built 10 miles from the Central Railway. In 1894 private
houses began to be erected. _Bello Horizonte_ has fine wide streets,
with arborization said to be the most artistic of any South American
city. It has water supply, sewerage, illumination, and electric
tramways, of the best type, a _Government Palace_ which cost half a
million, the finest of the State buildings of Brazil, the
_Department of the Interior_, of _Finance_, and of _Agriculture_,
each with handsome buildings, also the _City Hospital_. A small
river with pretty cascades running through the valley forms the
vertebra of a beautiful park, which with great trees, shrubs, and
vines, a broad driveway, and picturesque paths rivals in extent and
natural beauty all others in Brazil.
An _Agricultural School_ with a model farm is an important
educational feature on account of the great fertility of the region.
Sugar cane, corn, rice, bananas, tobacco, fruits, cotton, cereals,
and many other things are here cultivated, with coffee as the chief
product, the State being second to São Paulo in its culture. A
concession was made to a North American Company for growing hemp and
other fibres, one million trees to be planted within four years.
Viticulture and the silk worm industry are suitable to the region.
Vast pasture lands support great herds of cattle, nearly 300,000,000
head being exported in a single year. The dairy produce of butter,
cheese, and milk, is very important, and eggs also. It is thus
evident that Brazil possesses other industries beside rubber and
coffee, and regions with agreeable climate. The San Francisco River
flowing north through this section, while navigable at intervals,
has a series of cascades, among the most picturesque in the world.
Also there are famous mineral springs at Caxambu, altitude 3000 ft.,
with waters resembling those of Baden and Spa, with chalets, hotels,
and sanatoria, in summer crowded with guests; and other springs in
various other resorts.
The next _Coast_ State to Rio is _Espirito Santo_, though small, the
third coffee producer, raising also sugar cane, rice, and splendid
tropical woods; a good climate up on the plateau. The capital and
seaport, Victoria (20,000 pop.), has an excellent harbor, now being
improved with docks, warehouses, etc., soon to be a port of call for
large steamers. The next State, Bahia, will be mentioned later in
the chapter.
Following Bahia is _Sergipe_, smallest of the States (a little
larger than Maryland), 15,000 square miles, but the most thickly
settled. Another small State is _Alagoas_; then comes the large and
important _Pernambuco_, its capital so called, but more properly
Recife; with its population of 150,000, the fourth city of Brazil,
it is of great commercial importance. The name Recife arises from a
substantial reef off shore forming a fine natural breakwater, to
which the Dutch made some artificial addition, also erecting at its
extremity a strong lighthouse tower, the light visible for 20 miles.
The city, built on marshy ground, by quays and filling in redeemed
from the sea, from its canals and peninsulas, is called the
Brazilian Venice. Founded in 1536 by Duarte Coelho, it was in the
seventeenth century occupied many years by the Dutch, who were
finally expelled in 1654 by the patriotic Portuguese. From the
pretty bridges are many lovely panoramas. Several fine markets, two
theaters, a handsome Congress Hall, and the Governor’s Palace on the
foundations of that of the Prince of Nassau facing the Praça de
Republica are noteworthy. Two handsome churches are those of Nossa
Senhora da Penha of the Corinthian order of architecture and the Boa
Vista. The chief exports are cotton and sugar; the imports exceed
those of any Brazilian city except Rio.
The next State on the north is _Parahyba_, reputed to have vast
mineral wealth of coal, iron, gold, precious stones, etc., as yet
lying tranquil in the soil. Then comes _Rio Grande do Norte_, whose
enormous saline deposits along the shore partly compensate for its
barren stretches of land and frequent droughts. The following state,
_Ceará_, is closely connected with the rubber industry, for the
reason that on account of the barren sands along the coast, and the
inland droughts the male portion of the inhabitants is in large
numbers driven to the rubber districts of Amazonas. Seasons not
visited by drought are characterized by immense crops and bountiful
dairy products. _Fortaleza_, the capital, with over 50,000
inhabitants, among other nice buildings possesses a great public
market of cast-iron. Waterworks, planned on a large scale to
alleviate the effects of the droughts, will be highly beneficial.
The adjoining state of _Piauí_, with similar low and melancholy
shores, also suffers from lack of rain. A town is spoken of as
“having taken the name of a river that was so poor it ought not to
have one to give away.” _Maranhão_, the last state before reaching
_Pará_ and the Amazon, with a large population of negroes, like
Bahia, and of Indians in their primitive condition, has as its
capital _San Luiz_, a city founded by the French, and, like Bahia,
noted for its literary taste and culture. An indication of this is
that the squares, in other cities named after military events and
heroes, are here called after poets and other writers.
PARÁ AND THE AMAZON
The great Amazon River, we all know, is the largest in the world,
yet its immensity is hardly realized. In size of basin and volume of
water it far exceeds the Mississippi. For a distance of 180 miles
from shore the Atlantic is freshened by its waters, which vary in
depth in the estuary from 90 to 900 feet. Among its 1100
tributaries, great and small, there are seven more than 1000 miles
long, not counting the Marañon and Ucayali, by which it is formed.
One, the Madeira River, has a length of 3000 miles. In the great
region which it drains there are 1200 varieties of birds and 8000
animals not found elsewhere, to say nothing of the plants. The soil
is so rich that corn is returned 800 fold.
The best time to visit the Upper Amazon is in the dryer season, from
June to the middle of October, or in January; the worst is from
February to June. The climate of this section is attractive only to
those who enjoy heat and rain; the heat is not excessive, but
continuous; the rain is often 200 inches annually. Still the climate
is called fairly healthy for the most part, with small sections very
bad.
=Pará=, the most important in wealth, population, and commerce of
the northern States of Brazil, is a name familiar to all, to many
simply as rubber, to others rather as a city than a State:
improperly so indeed, as the city by its residents is termed Belem.
Founded at the mouth of the Amazon in January, 1616, it is younger
than the other important coast cities, while the State, formerly a
part of Maranhão, is little more than a century old. The date of
July 31, 1867, when the great river, previously closed to all but
Brazilian steamers, was opened to the navigation of the world, is
that of the beginning of Belem’s prosperity and wonderful growth.
Today a city of 150,000, it lies on the edge of a tranquil lagoon
called Guarujá Bay, formed by the Pará River, one of the several
mouths of the great Amazon. Along the city front is a forest of
masts and smokestacks, and vessels of every size and character pass
to and fro. Fine docks and warehouses have recently been
constructed, the work, begun in 1907, to be continued by the Port of
Pará Co., according to the requirements which are rapidly
increasing, since facilities must ultimately be provided for a
traffic from an area of the more than three million square miles
embraced in the Amazon Valley. A channel 30 feet deep leading from
the outer river to the port is marked by 26 modern buoys, illumined
by acetylene gas, with lights of 120-candle power intensified by a
lens. The port works are equal to the best at Liverpool and Hamburg,
having three-quarters of a mile of quay wall with water 30 feet deep
for ocean steamers, 722 feet of wall with 12 feet of water for river
steamers, and 1500 feet more for smaller boats with 9 feet 6 inches
of water. The wall of huge blocks of concrete is of the most
substantial character. On a roadway 60 feet wide are electric cranes
and railways, back of which are large warehouses. Beyond these is a
granite-paved boulevard, then the city itself, with the Custom
House, market, banking houses, stores, and all forms of commercial
activity.
On the large square, _Frei Caetano Brandão_, in the center of which
is a statue of the bishop after whom the square is named, the
founder of the first hospital in the city, stands the _Cathedral_
erected in 1710, elegant and harmonious, of rather severe exterior,
but within brilliantly decorated in high colors. On the bay side of
this square are the ruins of an old fort called _Castello_,
preserved for historic interest. The principal plaza is the
_Independencia_, adorned with flower beds, with lawns, bushes, and
trees; but the people here loving nature and flowers, no one ever
steps on the lawns or plucks a blossom, which indeed is the case in
the other cities of Latin America. In the center of the square is a
monument to General Gurjão, a superb bronze statue of a soldier who
died fighting, while he exclaimed, “See how a Brazilian General
dies!” At the side of the plaza, Parque Affonso Penna, is the
_Government Palace_ erected in 1776, and near by the blue tinted
_City Hall_ of colonial days, containing in the main hall a
beautiful painting of the death of the great musician, Carlos Gomez,
who died here.
In the square, _Visconde de Rio Branco_ on a marble base is the most
artistic monument of the city, a bronze statue of the Brazilian
patriot, _José da Garma Malcher_, with the figure of a beautiful
young girl below writing the name of the hero. Another garden,
_Baptista Compos_, is a little paradise with fountains, lakes,
bridges, plants, etc.
A unique public recreation ground at the other end of the city is a
tract of primitive woods, called _O Bosque_, dense and somber with
great trees which as the city grew in that direction was with
wonderful foresight preserved by the Municipality. Driveways were
opened disclosing its poetic beauty, greenhouses, cascades,
fountains and other embellishments added, making it a resort of
which the people are proud.
The usual _Praça da Republica_ contains a beautiful marble monument
with bronze figures commemorating the proclamation of the Republic.
On this square, the heart of the city, is the _Paz Theater_ of white
marble, imposing and austere, of the Corinthian order of
architecture, with a tranquil grandeur unlike any other in South
America. The interior is decorated with paintings by De Angelis
surrounded by high gold reliefs, contains a foyer with a beautiful
inlaid floor, and has everything in lighting and mechanical devices
of the most modern type. The Paz Hotel is near.
Notable churches are _Santa Anna_, built in 1761, and _Our Lady of
the Carmo_, about the same date, and _Our Lady of Nazareth_, built
in 1802, where seamen especially bring offerings, wax miniatures of
boats and other objects of maritime life, forming a curious museum
of nautical art.
The greatest interest and admiration may be excited by the _Goeldi
Museum_, one of the most famous in South America, and now under the
direction of Dr. Jacques Huber. The building is surrounded by fine
specimens of the Amazonian forests with the finest collection in the
world of the _Hevea brasiliensis_, the best of the many varieties of
rubber trees; and the experimental garden probably contains every
species of rubber known, with many other plants of commercial value.
Of equal or greater interest are the archæological, ethnological,
and zoological departments. Here are collections of pottery of
extinct Indian tribes inhabiting this region at the time of the
Portuguese discovery, with funeral urns and pottery from mounds of
the Island of Marajó. Weapons and utensils of the Amazonian Indians
are shown. The collection of Brazilian fauna comprises a complete
series of Amazonian monkeys, a great variety of birds, the larger
mammals, as the tapir, jaguar, etc., and insects. Many living
creatures, aquatic birds, parrots, toucans of gorgeous plumage,
alligators, anacondas, boa constrictors, electric eels, and many
others, safely caged, enchain the attention.
The _Lauro Sodré Institute_ for industrial and agricultural
training, a _School of Commerce_, a _Fine Arts Academy_, and other
establishments for education, for the sick, and the poor are
liberally provided. A fine new _Market_ is not of small importance.
The broad, clean, well shaded streets are often lined with beautiful
villas and gardens; though but a degree and a half from the equator
the heat is not excessive, rarely above 90° Fahr.
=Manaos.= The visitor to Pará, is likely to be on his way up the
Amazon to Manaos or Iquitos; if a bit of an explorer, perchance to
Bolivia by the newly practicable Madeira and Mamoré route, or to the
rubber regions in any one of five countries. The city of Pará, is
about 80 miles from the pilot station Salinas; and a further journey
of 24 hours, nearly 200 miles, is required, across a bay, then for
nine hours through a narrow channel, before one really enters the
broad stream of the great Amazon. Along the narrows the landscape is
charming; clearings with huts and children are frequent; canoes with
fishermen, and small steamers calling at the _barracas_
(plantations) for rubber or to bring provisions are numerous. The
luxuriant vegetation is fascinating. But from the remoteness of the
shores, on the immense wide river the four or five days to _Manaos_
may be somewhat monotonous. The greater will be the surprise of the
uniformed traveler when after 900 miles through the enormous
wilderness of forest he arrives at this new city, with a population
of 80,000, truly a wonder of wonders. Its location is at the
junction of the Rio Negro with the Amazon; one writer says on a
large bay, another that it is on the left bank of the Negro eight
miles from the Amazon. At all events it has a safe and quiet harbor
with excellent port works arranged to fit the rise and fall of the
river, about 50 feet. A floating roadway extends into the river, a
platform and pontoons supporting warehouses; and ocean steamships
come alongside. Hills have been lowered, shallow places filled in,
and waterworks and drainage systems supplied; so that a remarkable
city indeed is here in the forest. It is said to be the best lighted
city in Brazil. The _Municipal street_, 100 feet wide, is lined with
handsome buildings. The _Eduardo Ribeiro avenue_ in the afternoon
and evening is thronged with people of wealth and fashion. The
_Amazonas Theater_, on this avenue and S. Sebastião Square, is of
astonishing magnificence, having cost $2,000,000; its beautiful
colored dome is a conspicuous feature from the harbor. The interior
compares with the splendid exterior, allegorical paintings by De
Angelis, the celebrated Italian artist, ornamenting the ceilings of
foyer and auditorium. The _Palace of Justice_, a white marble
building in Roman style, with a bronze and marble staircase, is also
imposing. The _Cathedral_ is a vast temple of simple architecture.
There are excellent school buildings, a public library, a museum
with curious Amazonian specimens, a spacious market cool and well
ventilated, and a public garden with music from six till midnight.
Electric fans are everywhere in evidence, ice here manufactured is
supplied in abundance, and excellent sanitation makes the capital
surprisingly free from sickness.
=Iquitos.= By ocean steamers, the Booth Line from New York and from
London, the journey may be pursued up the Amazon as far as _Iquitos_
in Peru, a city of 15,000 population, where the Amazon, over 2000
miles from its mouth, still has a width of nearly three miles and an
average depth of 25 feet, twice that in the rainy season. The city
is a few leagues below the junction of the Marañon and the Ucayali,
by which the Amazon is formed. Iquitos is quite cosmopolitan with
representatives from various European and American nations. It has
many warehouses, and commercial and other modern buildings of brick
and iron. One hundred and fifty feet above the river and surrounded
by dense forests, the climate is not so bad as it might be, though
the temperature averages 85° to 90° all the year around; as a rule
the place is not unhealthy.
=Rubber= is the principal occasion for its being and growth, and its
commerce is rapidly increasing. In all directions lie the rubber
forests, or more accurately the forests which contain rubber trees.
For these do not grow conveniently in groves, except here and there
occasionally a few trees, but scattered singly in the damp forest,
perhaps 100 or 150 trees in an _estrada_ or section of about 100
acres, an area which a single man can take care of. The _estrada_ is
really the path leading from one tree to another. The man, called
the _seringuero_, sets out early in the morning with hatchet and tin
cups or basins; he makes on each tree several incisions, 4 to 6
inches apart around the tree. By the time the round of 3 or 4 miles
is finished it is time for lunch; then the collection may begin, the
tins containing the fluid called _latex_ are emptied into a pail,
eight or ten quarts in all, producing about as many pounds of
rubber. This is finished by noon, after which the latex must be
smoked over a wood fire; it is coagulated on a sort of ladle twirled
over the smoke. Fresh coats are added when one is dry until a
_bolacha_ or biscuit is formed of from 5 to 100 lbs. The man who
does this work may be a native Indian or a resident of Ceará or
elsewhere. He works for a contractor who may employ several hundred.
Many atrocities have been committed by these contractors, who have
compelled the defenseless Indians to work for them without pay and
have inflicted cruelties, torture, and murder upon them and their
families, especially in the Putomayo district, where an English
Company has been engaged. Through recent investigations the
cruelties have been terminated for the moment; but such is the greed
and inhumanity of some professedly civilized men that close watch
must be kept by humane officials to prevent further abuses and the
extermination of harmless savages.
The rubber is collected in this way from trees called _jebe_ or
_hevea_, but there are many varieties of trees which produce rubber
of varying excellence. A kind of tree called the _caucho_ which
grows on higher land is cut down by the _cauchero_ and the entire
_latex_ is extracted, averaging about 50 lbs. to a tree; this is a
quality of less value. Brazil has a heavy export tax on rubber,
Bolivia about half as much, while Peru exacts less than a quarter.
The terrors, perils, and the fascination (to some few) of the
immense and awful forest are in many books described. Few are the
explorers who, aided by many hands wielding machetes, have
penetrated far into the jungle from the flowing river roads. For
their adventures I have no space. Yet in these days of doughty deeds
by valiant women, a far more wonderful exploit by one who doubtless
had no wish to usurp man’s functions as an explorer may here be
chronicled. Long, long ago, in 1769, when the forests were untrodden
even by the casual rubber gatherer, Madame Godin, to join her
husband in Guiana, left Riobamba in Ecuador with two brothers, a
nephew, a physician, three women domestics, a negro servant, and
thirty Indians. Having passed over the great mountain range they
embarked on a stream, one of the many affluents of the Amazon, to
meet with repeated disasters. Their boat was upset, their supplies
and baggage were lost. The Indians deserted. A raft being made, this
also foundered. Proceeding on foot, lost in the forest they wandered
until, exhausted with starvation and effort, they lay down to die.
This all the rest did, but after two days by her dead companions,
Madame Godin arose. Shoeless, her clothing nearly gone, with no food
save roots and herbs she struggled on amid the terrors of the jungle
till after nine days she met two so-called savages. These treated
her kindly, ministering to her needs till she was able to proceed,
then conducted her to a white settlement farther down. As a
white-haired woman she ultimately reached Pará and joined her
husband, a notable illustration of _the weaker sex_.
=The Madeira-Mamoré Railway.= Only the unusually enterprising
tourist, the explorer, or the business man will be likely to
investigate this new railway, but all may like to know a little
about it. The Madeira, the largest tributary of the Amazon, comes in
from the south a little below Manaos, and is the outlet and means of
access to a large portion of the state of Matto Grosso in Brazil and
of the country of Bolivia as well. Continuous river navigation has,
however, been impossible on account of a series of 19 falls and
rapids on the Madeira and Mamoré rivers within a distance of 200
miles, thus preventing earlier development of a section rich not
only in rubber, but in minerals, and in agricultural and
stock-raising possibilities. About 570 miles up the Madeira River is
the new city of Porto Velho, where the railway begins, now completed
for a distance of 202 miles to Guajará Mirim on the Mamoré, about
due south. Thus has been accomplished a work which in 1869 was
planned by an American, Col. George Earl Church, under a concession
from Brazil and Bolivia. In 1871 he turned the first sod of the
railway, but financial and other difficulties soon caused the
suspension of operations. In 1878 another effort was made, also to
meet disaster. Today the better knowledge of the causes of tropical
diseases and of methods of sanitation has caused the task to be
triumphantly concluded. Construction work, begun in August, 1907,
was carried on with such effect that in spite of many difficulties
the final section of the road was opened for traffic July 15, 1912.
As yet there is no fast express, two days being required for the
journey. Porto Velho, the northern terminus of the road, on the
right bank of the Madeira, is a town of 1500 people, with an ice
plant making six tons a day, piped water supply of two kinds, one
for internal use, and with wireless telegraphic communication with
Manaos, hence close relations with the rest of the world. To this
port ocean steamers may come during part of the year, November to
June, and large river steamers at any time. The residence part of
the city is on a hill a little back. Regular trains three times a
week leave at 8 a.m. The greater part of the journey is through the
jungle in a cut 100 feet wide, though in places the river is
visible, at Santo Antonio a picturesque view including the first
cascades. Near Caldeiro Station is one of the worst places on the
river, called the Devil’s Caldron, invisible, however, from the
track. South of Mutum are 25 miles of straight track passing through
an immense rubber concession to the company. At Abuna, 218 kms.,
where the train is due at 5.30 p.m., halt is made for the night
close to the river. Leaving Abuna at 7.30 the next morning the
arrival at the terminus should be at 3.15 p.m. Villa Murtinho, 93
kms. south of Abuna, is just opposite the town of Villa Bella in
Bolivia, and the junction of the Beni and Mamoré, the Bolivian city
being between the two rivers; the Mamoré from here south forms the
boundary between the two countries. At the terminal, Guajará Mirim,
there is another town of the same name on the opposite shore in
Bolivia, from which a railroad is now being constructed to
Riberalta, an important town of Bolivia, near the edge of the
Amazonian forest and the Bolivian cattle country. For the
development of northern Bolivia which is drained by the Beni River,
this railway will be a great motive power, as also for Matto Grosso
of Brazil. An enormous region of rubber and of many other
possibilities is hereby rendered accessible, as this great
accomplishment is to be supplemented in Bolivia by other important
connections. The formal inauguration of the road already long in use
was postponed on account of the desire of the President of Brazil to
assist in person at the ceremonies.
It is an item of interest that the head waters of the Guaporé River,
a branch of the Madeira, are so close to those of the stream
Aguapehy, tributary to the Jauru and Paraguay rivers, that they
could be connected by a canal less than 1000 feet long. Years ago
the trip across from the Amazon waters to the Paraguay-Paraná basin
was made in a canoe by hardy Portuguese explorers following this
route, which in the years to come may develop into a frequented
waterway.
Any one wishing to make the journey from Manaos up the Madeira to
the railway is obliged to pay a tax of 9 milreis, in addition to a
deposit of 50$ for hospital or funeral expenses in case he should
contract yellow fever or other serious ail, but the 50$ are refunded
on his safe return.
=On the Way Home.= Few will sail away from the matchless harbor and
city of Rio without keen regret and the determination to revisit
them at the earliest possible moment, though with these once lost to
view he may look eagerly forward to the conclusion of the homeward
voyage. This at present by the Lamport and Holt steamers occupies 16
or 18 days, which are happily spent on their large and luxurious
vessels, the several calls en route relieving any possible monotony.
The weather is generally delightful, two weeks of summer, not too
hot, followed by one never knows what, for the two or three days
before reaching New York.
A few may prefer to take ship to a European port and spend some time
on the other side before returning home, but there is no longer a
necessity for going that way in order to have a comfortable voyage.
Although the steamers of the English Line are a trifle faster, even
with the best connection at Southampton or Liverpool the time to New
York is longer.
=Bahia.= About 60 hours from Rio on the third morning of the return
voyage, the ship is likely to be at anchor in the harbor of _Bahia_,
once the capital of Brazil, and now with a population of 285,000 its
third city. It is 720 miles from its ancient rival. Founded in 1549
by Thome de Souza this is the oldest of all the Brazilian cities and
has ever been a place not only of commercial importance but of
artistic and literary culture and of sumptuous religious
sanctuaries. Until 1762 it was the seat of colonial power. The
location of the city on the east side of a deep and well protected
gulf is admirable; its beauty would excite enthusiasm if it were
seen before Rio instead of afterwards. The name of this city is
really São Salvador, while the bay is Bahia de Todos os Santos, Bay
of All Saints, the name Bahia of the State having, as in the case of
Pernambuco and Pará, by foreigners been transferred to that of its
capital city. Its appearance is indeed striking, with its upper and
lower town, the former crowning a high and almost perpendicular
bluff, the latter, looking almost as if it had been pushed over the
edge, occupying a narrow strip along the water front, both sections
charmingly variegated by dense tropical foliage. Conspicuous from a
distance are the great elevators connecting the upper and lower town
and many large buildings, towers, and churches.
In a small boat one may be rowed a mile from the anchorage to the
landing, then passing to Ribeira street, may follow this to an
elevator at the right or by a steep and narrow street on the face of
the bluff may climb to the top. By the elevator at the right 15 or
20 may be lifted in a wooden box to the edge of a pretty square
above, the _Praça da Constitucão_. At the right is the site of the
ancient _Municipal Building_, spoiled by the Dutch in 1636, later
repaired, and recently rebuilt, with a new four-faced clock tower
added; but in January, 1912, it was riddled by shots from Brazilian
warships on account of an insurrection. A large attractive building
at the rear of this square, which formerly was the residence of the
Portuguese Governors and the Presidents of the Province, has been
rebuilt from the foundations and is now used for the Governor’s
offices, his residence being in Corredor da Victoria. The American
Consulate is well located on a corner of this square. Narrow lanes
of three centuries gone, lead from here in several directions; but
some of them are traversed by electric cars which frequently leave
the Plaza for diverse sections. A pleasant suburban ride is to the
fishing village and suburb of Rio Vermelho, where a nice luncheon
may be obtained; one passes on the way out, through some of the fine
residence streets, by the side of beautiful parks, and by the
lighthouse on Cape Barra at the entrance to the bay, on the site of
an old fort. There is a fine view from the lighthouse top, well
worth the climb, and one may walk on to Rio Vermelho a little
farther.
[Illustration:
PRAÇA DE FREI CAETANO BRANDÃO, PARA
]
[Illustration:
BAHIA
]
The narrow Chili street runs from the Praça da Constitucão to the
_Castro Alves Square_, 150 feet above the bay, with a _Statue of
Columbus_ surmounting a marble fountain in the garden. On one side
is the _San João Theater_. Here also are the _Paris_ and the _Sul
Americano Hotels_, and the building of the journal, the _Diario da
Bahia_. Following from here Carlos Gomez street we may come to the
_Piedade Square_ with a pretty garden, and a marble fountain with a
symbolic statue of an Indian stepping on a serpent. On one side of
the square is the _Piedade Church_, on another the _Senate House_,
of Italian style of architecture. Passing the _Police Headquarters_,
a pretty street, Pedro Luiz, with modern buildings, leads to the
_Passeio Publico_, a delightful resting place, the largest and most
popular in the city, shaded by mango trees, containing an obelisk of
Egyptian marble, commemorating, one says, the arrival of King João
VI in Brazil, another the opening of Brazilian ports to foreign
commerce in 1808. At one side, on the Afflictos Square, the thick
walls of an old fortress have been remodeled into police barracks. A
steep street leads down from the Passeio Publico to a colonial
fortification, the _Gamboa Fortress_ at the edge of the water.
The _Largo Duque du Caxias_ contains in a pretty garden an imposing
monument of Carrara marble and bronze, 100 feet in height, named the
_Dois de Julho_, the date of the evacuation of the State by the
Portuguese troops in 1824, which sealed its independence. At the top
of the tall Corinthian Column stands the traditional Indian with
foot on a dragon, signifying the triumph over despotism. Colossal
figures of bronze represent the great rivers of Brazil, with other
accessories making this one of the finest monuments in Brazil. A
notable peculiarity of the city is that the monuments are of
symbolic character and not of individuals, no busts or statues of
heroes save one to the English philanthropist, Dr. Paterson, a
physician whose good works were many. In the Praça do Riachuelo,
which is overlooked by the handsome edifice of the Commercial
Association, another beautiful monument, a marble pillar surmounted
by a flying Victory, commemorates the triumph of Brazil over
Paraguay in the terrible war of 1864-70.
Among a number of interesting churches is the _San Francisco_, built
in 1713 with elaborate and gorgeous interior decorations. The
_Collegio Church_ of the Jesuits, now the _Cathedral_, built of
stone prior to 1572, on the Largo Quinze de Novembro, has an
imposing interior, the details of its ornamentation, from the design
of the main altar to the work in the ceiling, making it perhaps the
most curious in Brazil. A Benedictine Church, _San Sebastião_, on a
central eminence, is peculiar in being all white inside and out, the
main altar and the Saints’ images of Carrara marble, while the two
towers and the dome, the highest spot in the city, are white also.
Oldest of all in Bahia is the Church _Nossa Senhora da Ojuda_.
Bahia boasts of one of the best _Medical Schools_ in South America,
with a finer building than the School in Rio possesses; this on the
Largo Quinze de Novembro. It has also a _Law College_ and other
excellent schools, one of the most valuable, a _Lyceum of Arts and
Trades_ founded in 1872 with day and night classes, workshops, and
class rooms, and 2500 pupils in attendance. A _Public Library_ with
30,000 volumes, a _Municipal_ with 20,000, and still others are of
good service to the people. The _Poorhouse_ is an attractive looking
place and there are excellent hospitals.
In the eastern suburbs are charming vistas; and of homely; interest
are the hundreds of colored women engaged in laundry work along a
little stream with the clothing spread out upon the grass and
bushes. No machine washed and dried clothing there, but all done in
good fresh air.
Bahia is the great cocoa port of Brazil, furnishing about one-fifth
of the world’s supply; the State is wonderfully rich in productions
of almost every kind. One may ask what does it _not_ produce rather
than what it does: coffee, tobacco, rubber, cotton, sugar, nuts,
woods, etc., besides a wealth of minerals of great diversity; the
largest diamond carbonate ever discovered was found here in 1895. It
weighed 3150 carats and was divided in Paris into smaller stones.
Gold, copper, and many of the precious stones are found in various
sections. Even the sand is exported, being worth $100 a ton; some,
at least, of a deposit found by an American engineer along the
shore, called monazite, rich in thorium silicate, used for electric
lights.
The lower part of the city should not be ignored, for here are the
commercial houses, the markets, Custom House, arsenals, Post Office,
factories, and many of the stores. There is one pretty plaza, but
the streets are very narrow, and at night it is wholly deserted for
the residential section above, save for a few of the poorer classes
who live on the steep hillside.
On the boundary of this state are the _Paulo Affonso Falls_ of the
San Francisco River, worth visiting if time permits; the valley is
one of the most fertile regions of the globe. A line of comfortable
steamers subsidized by the State, running to Pernambuco, gives
opportunity to change at Peneda, about 30 miles up the river, to a
smaller boat, which ascends to Piranhas, near the foot of the
cataract, 150 miles farther, a two days’ journey. A railway runs
from Piranhas to Jatoba, 71 miles, to navigation above the Falls.
Pedras, the Falls station, is about half way. Then a ride of two
hours or so brings one to the great cañon. Men living near, for a
small fee, will act as guides. There are various rapids and one high
fall; the river first compressed by rock banks is divided into five
narrow branches through rock clefts, four of which tumbling down 15
or 20 feet become a mass of foam and rush down a steep incline, with
a roar audible for miles, in splendid rapids. The four branches soon
unite, rushing on to the great Fall, the Mai da Cachoeira, where all
five take a grand leap of 190 feet, which may best be surveyed lying
prone on a flat rock 72 feet above the Fall, too awe-inspiring a
sight to be enjoyed by every one, but to those of steady nerve a
magnificent spectacle. A visit to the Bat’s Cave may as well be
omitted.
Unless one stays over a steamer in Bahia, one may have but a glimpse
of the city’s many attractions and of course none of the unique,
solitary, yet some day to be famous, waterfalls. Five or six hours
only on shore are generally permitted to the tourist, though the
steamer is likely to delay several more after the return on board.
But it does not do to take chances on so important a matter.
From Bahia the sail is generally to Port au Spain, Trinidad, where
the hours will be a pleasure after ten days on the broad ocean. Once
more you are in a land where you will hear English “as she is spoke”
in various ways by persons of various complexions. A drive past the
_Victoria Institute_, the _Government House_, and the market place
to the reservoir, the _Botanical Garden_, and to the beautiful
_Queen’s Park Hotel_ will be greatly enjoyed; and the opportunity
for shopping in the excellent stores or from the natives who bring
wares to the boat will be improved by some whose purses are not yet
empty. On the regular steamers, there is no opportunity to visit the
celebrated Pitch Lake some miles away, a lake with an area of 114
acres, on the surface of which one may walk if he moves along
promptly. This is the main source of the supply of asphalt used in
the United States.
The next morning the steamer is at Bridgetown in Barbados, a
pleasant old town where some hours may be spent in a drive, a
stroll, or in shopping to buy a few curios or embroideries. This is
surely British soil, though 90 per cent of the inhabitants are
negroes. Near the landing is _Trafalgar Square_, with a bronze
statue of Nelson in the center, justly his due as it was he who
preserved Great Britain’s West Indian possessions in 1805. Here are
the government buildings and _St. Michael’s_, the Anglican church. A
_Carnegie Library_ and a _Salvation Army Building_ not far away may
be reminders that we are approaching home. The _Woman’s Self-Help
Association_, also on the Square, invites and deserves patronage;
for Indian pottery and other curios, lace, embroidery, and various
edibles may here be procured at modest prices. A house called
_Wilton_ at the corner of Bay street and Chelsea road is of interest
as being in 1751 the temporary residence of George Washington, the
companion of his elder brother Lawrence, who having contracted
consumption had come here in the hope of recovering his health.
Dying a year afterward, Lawrence bequeathed his estate of Mount
Vernon to his brother George.
Seven days later Sandy Hook is passed; the Statue of Liberty, the
old and new skyscrapers draw near. Every one is glad to return,
however delightful the journey. Some, if not all, of the passengers
will in future have a little broader outlook; regarding the _Other
Americans_ with somewhat more of respect; well knowing now that
there are agreeable scenes to be revisited, remote regions to be
explored, and for those who have the judgment, tact, and energy,
wonderful opportunities for enterprise.
------------------------------------------------------------------------